For Benson A. Koenig (1912_1997)

Battery A, 10th AART Battalion, U.S. Army North Africa and Italy, 1942“1944

Those last three days, reciting from memory Cicero and Vergil, you could quote Long passages of Latin poetry. It left us stunned. The only antidote To poison in your flesh was blessèd words. No other good thing comforted you when Pulsating life, just like a flock of birds, Gathered its wings to fly. The deaths of men Can be as silent as the moons eclipse, Spectrally speechless as fields after battle, Loud as the riven skys apocalypse With thundering noise”or mindless as a rattle. Benson, your answer to encroaching dark Was lustrous language, flaring like a spark.